Marlo Thomas ‘so sorry’ for body-shaming Sherri Shepherd: ‘Learned my lesson’
Marlo Thomas issued a mea culpa after upsetting many people by body-shaming Sherri Shepherd on the TV host’s own talk show.
“I am so sorry about that,” the award-winning actress, 84, said on “Good Day New York” Thursday.
“I mean, I love her, and I thought I was giving a compliment. I said, ‘Wow, you’ve really lost weight!’ but I realized you’re not supposed to do that.”
Thomas also noted that she has “learned [her] lesson” and will “never do it again.”
“I’m never going to tell you how good you look. Never,” the “That Girl” alum jokingly told Fox 5 anchor Rosanna Scotto with a laugh.
Thomas was criticized earlier this week by Shepherd’s “Sherri” staffers, who thought she was out of line for addressing the former “The View” co-host’s weight loss on air.
“I interviewed you for my AOL show [‘Mondays with Marlo’],” the “A Magical Christmas Village” star recalled during her guest segment Tuesday, adding, “and you used to be a big woman!”
One insider told us, “Sherri was a good sport, but people [at the show] are very protective of her. People were not happy that she fat-shamed her on national TV. It was like a slap in the face.”
However, Shepherd, 55, did not appear to take offense at the remark and laughed it off on air.
Thomas also revealed on “Good Day New York” that she and the “30 Rock” alum spoke after the backlash and were on good terms.
“She called me, and she said, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know what this is about,'” the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital advocate said Shepherd told her, to which she responded, “‘Don’t worry.'”
“That’s a new thing, and I certainly understand it,” Thomas added of not mentioning a person’s weight. “I mean, I never meant to ever offend anything, but I didn’t offend her. She came and jumped over on the couch and hugged me, and she just asked me to come back in November to do a St. Jude piece, so, you know, we’re fine.”